A precast concrete wall is very difficult to insulated, that is rigid insulation can only be installed in the middle of a precast wall. When a concrete beam or column is installed within the wall, there is no insulation in the wall unless the precast wall has furring strips and insulation installed at the interior wall surface.
Thin faced precast concrete wall panels have been using light gauge metal framing for the structural backing for a few years now. When the concrete is poured face up, insulation supports the concrete until it has cured, while pouring the concrete face down in a forming bed, the light gauge metal framing is suspended over the forming bed and the metal channel is typically embedded into the concrete facing and usually no thermal break is accomplished. These systems do not combine the wall and sheathing insulation, plus have that thermal break as well as the flexibility to install columns and beams within the structure.
Different types of closed cell insulations can be used as a part of thin faced precast concrete wall panels, that is polystyrene, aerated autoclave concrete, cellular light weight concrete or light weight concrete with foam pellets. All of these materials are not load bearing materials, but are good insulation materials and some materials can withstand exterior weather conditions and some cannot without having to install an exterior coating. Some of the materials can have grooves or projections installed prior to pouring concrete, that is depending if the precast if formed face-up or face-down.
Smaller size of foam spacers can be assembled together to form larger assembled wall panels into which concrete is then poured. The foam spacers have overlapping tongue and groove connections both vertically and horizontally interlocking metal channels into the foam spacers.
The horizontal bracing channels within the wall forming structure is generally provided by installing bridging members which tie the support channels together. These bridging members may be attached on the outside of the flanges of the support channels or maybe internal bridging members installed through openings provided in the web of the support channels. None of the bridging members used today have a limited function and do not provide a solution for interacting with rigid insulation between support channels and the holes the internal bridging members pass through.